How High Can the Katrina Price Tag Go?

It is Katrina anniversary week, and news outlets are abuzz with stories probing why, 12 months after the worst natural disaster in American history, so little progress semms to be made. USA Today notes that the price tag for recovery and reconstruction stands at $122 billion, and shows no signs of slowing its ascent.

That's still much less than half of what the war in Iraq has cost the just the United States so far; the amount spent on that conflict recently surpassed $300 billion. And more than twice as many Americans have died in Iraq.

It is important to note that the war in Iraq is very much man-made, and was very much voluntarily created.

We at CorpWatch strive to put numbers like these into perspective. Our new report, "Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast" explores where all of that money appropriated to Katrina relief so far has gone. And the answer is: into the same pockets as much of the money appropriated for the war. Huge multinational corporations such as Halliburton, Bechtel, AshBritt and CH2M Hill (who have well-documented ties to the Bush Administration and/or members of Congress) have made a fortune from no-bid and contingency contracts to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq, and have also received similar contracts to clear debris and rebuild the Gulf Coast. And the very same problems have emerged: overcharging, underperformance, and a near complete lack of accountability.

• 21 Reconstruction